Episodes

Darcy Howe has a passion for innovation and has been a regional leader in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, developing connectivity between funders, entrepreneurs and advisors. She is also a 20-year veteran angel investor so coming out of retirement to build the KC Rise Venture Fund was a perfect fit. In this episode Darcy shares details on the KC Rise Fund and the KC Rising initiative as well as wealth of insights you can apply to business and life.

Pre-Med, systems engineer, direct sales, sales and entrepreneur are all words to describe Laura Schmidt’s career journey. The idea for her latest venture was literally sparked with her feet on the dashboard while on a trip with her family. She put positive thinking into action with Notes to Self Socks.
Laura will tell you the path to success wasn’t a straight line but the lessons learned and lives touched make it all worth it. Notes to Self socks are available online and in over 1900...

Niall luxury watch is a true Kansas City entrepreneur story. Michael Wilson, the founder, will tell you starting his company is 2012 was not easy at all. In the beginning, Niall was rejected by the industry in a very abrupt and overt way. His goal was to produce the best timepieces possible that are true legacies to passed on to future generations. In 2017, Niall's sales increased 129 percent compared with the previous year. This is a testament to quality and the relationships they build...

When an opportunity presents itself, you should take advantage of it and that's what Dan Thompson did. A conversation over dinner with his sister sparked the idea of a cage-less doggie daycare facility. His background in sales and experience in flipping houses didn't quite prepare him for all that was in store to successfully launch Dog Pawz in 2010. Dan has since expanded to two other locations. In this episode he shares a wealth of knowledge you can easily apply no matter what business...

Ben Rao is a real estate investor and founder of Community Buying Group. He has a knack for helping entrepreneurs and small businesses accelerate growth. His latest ventures are Bridge Space, a co-working facility and the E2 Hustle podcast. In this episode, Ben shares insights on creating new companies, economies, eco-systems, and of course, entrepreneurship.

Nick Spencer is the founder and president of Keep Them S.A.F.E., an anti-abduction course for children. Nick is also a lead instructor and project manager for Strategos International, a global training, security and protection firm. After spending 20 years in the military, police and security industry, Nick knows what it takes to protect and secure the things you treasure most. In this episode, he shares his entreprenurial journey along with insights and safety tips everyone can apply.

I've been fortunate to interview entrepreneurs and leaders in a variety of industries and my conversation with Chris Garibaldi is no exception. Chris is the co-founder of Lotuspool Records and also a principal in one of the largest professional services companies in the world.
In this interview, Chris shares insights on the music industry along with keys to capitalizing entrepreneurial skill sets in a corporate world. You'll also get the inside scoop on Lotuspool Records and what's in...

Like most chiropractors, Dr. Michelle Robin started out with a small practice. Over the last 25 years, her practice has grown into one of the premier wellness facilities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Her team includes chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, nutrition counselors, functional medicine doctors, an MD who focuses on sleep medicine and corporate wellness programs too. Dr. Robin knew she needed to make some shifts in her own life. She's now a published author,...

David Patrick learned first-hand from brilliant marketers like McDonald's, P&G, LG Electronics, General Motors, Miller Lite, Kellogg, and Burger King to name a few. He worked his way up through the ranks and has served as a COO, CMO for companies like Beauty Brands and Westlake Hardware, David looked beyond marketing to connect a vision to a strategy to an action plan; aligning the Why, What, and How.
Now as the Founder of High Performance Retail Marketing Group, David builds strategies...

As the business of sports has evolved, so has the industry that covers them which means the competition is increasing. Joel Goldberg has spent more than 20 years in television developing and maintaining relationships with professional athletes, coaches and team management. He's covered top athletes from Brett Favre to Kurt Warner to the 2015 World Championship Royals. In this episode, Joel shares insights on building trust, making key connections and of course baseball.

Erin Smith is the founder of FacePrint, a patent pending telemedicine system for the early and accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. FacePrint has received national attention including winning the #BUILTBYGIRLS Challenge at Twitter Headquarters along with being recognized by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. In this episode, Erin shares the science, struggles and successes of starting a business as a teenager. If you think you're busy, she also has productivity insights to offer.

Kare Anderson is inordinately curious about why we do what we do. She's an Emmy-winning former NBC and Wall Street Journal reporter. Now a columnist for Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and the Huffington Post she shares her knowledge and strategies on quotability and connective behavior. Kare's TED talk on The Web of Humanity: Becoming an Opportunity Maker has attracted over 2 million views. Her clients are as diverse as Salesforce, Novartis, S.F. Giants and The Skoll Foundation. In this...

Established in 1893, US Engineering has grown to be one the nation’s top design-build mechanical contracting firms. Tyler Nottberg is the fifth generation of the Nottberg family to lead U.S. Engineering. He served in several roles in the company before taking over as Chairman and CEO. Tyler has been named one of the 250 Most powerful Business Leaders in the Kansas City area by Ingram’s Magazine. He was selected as one of Kansas City’s key executives from non-profit and public-sector...

Serial entrepreneur and business mentor Allison Maslan has built ten successful companies from the ground up starting as a single mom on her own. Her client list has included Ben & Jerry’s, Charlotte Russe, Supercuts, and Allstate. She has also been a world-renowned homeopath for the past 20 years which adds a unique whole person approach to her innovative business strategies. In this episode, she shares what so many of today’s entrepreneurs are missing when it comes to achieving success...

Stephen Heiner is an entrepreneur who owns several lifestyle businesses – in real estate, tourism, publishing and podcasting, and a particular passion: writing. He is in his 4th year of residence in Paris, where he is pursuing a French passport, the language itself, and the perfect walk. He spends all but all but 100 days a year in France, and can often be found in the US – specifically Kansas City – or in other European countries. In this episode, Stephen shares his entrepreneur insights...

Cam Bishop has extensive experience building, buying, and running companies. For over 30 years, he has led companies owned by a broad range of international, regional and institutional private equity. He's managed a workforce of nearly 2000 employees located in cities across the U.S. and several foreign countries. Most recently he combined his expertise in business and passion for fitness to launch Muscle Metrics, a company focused on body composition testing with the Bod Pod. In this...

Have you ever taken an online quiz? If so there's a possibility Interact was the platform used to create it. To date, Interact has worked with brands like Starbucks, The United Nations, Home Depot, World Wildlife’s Fund and many more. They’ve helped companies around the world generate more than 4 million new email subscribers. In this episode, you’re going to hear Interact's co-founder Josh Haynam share entrepreneur insights on starting a company as well as the how to’s for content...

Working in an animal shelter and seeing 3 animals come in and less going out inspired Michelle Rivera to find a solution to the problem of pet homelessness. In 2002, without financial backing or an advisory board already in place, Michelle embarked on the most challenging career path ever to start Spay & Neuter Kansas City.
SNKC was the first and is now largest “targeted” spay/neuter program in Kansas City. With over 100,000 spay/neuters to date, they have impacted the overall reduction...

Cameron Herold is known as the business growth guru and Forbes calls him the CEO whisperer. By age 21, Cameron had 14 employees and by the age of 35, he'd help build his first two $100 million dollar companies. By the age of 42, he engineered 1-800-GOT-JUNK?'s spectacular growth from $2 million to $106 million in revenue, and 3100 employees in just six years. Cameron is the mastermind behind hundreds of clients exponential growth and they will tell you he speaks only from experience. He's...

Coss Marte, former inmate turned CEO, knows he beat the odds. By age 19, Coss was making $2 million a year running one of the largest drug delivery services in New York. At 23 he was caught and faced seven years in prison. Upon entering prison, the medical unit told him he could die in prison because at 5'8" and 230 pounds, he was overweight with dangerously high blood pressure.
A year before he was scheduled to be released, Coss ended up in solitary confinement. During that time, he...